CHAPTER 31 Sacrifice

*Joy*

Nicole was quiet most of the time as Cristos kept taking a swing at her. I would glance at him from time to time, giving him dirty looks so he could at least give Nicole a breather, but his comments just kept coming.

After using the bathroom, Nicole sashayed her way back to the bar, flipping her hair this way and that way, trying to attract Sebastian's attention, however, during her attempt to brush against Sebastian, she accidentally bumped into Cristos who was walking back to the bar after cleaning up a couple of empty tables. I rolled my eyes and grimaced. Here, we go again...

"Nicole, why don't you use the fat from your ass to fill your lips? Hmmmm? So your ass will shrink, giving you enough room to squeeze yourself into tight places," Cristos remarked scornfully. I caught Xavier snickering behind Nicole and gave him a warning look. He immediately stopped.

I glanced at Nicole, who hung her head in embarrassment, as she sat back down next to Sebastian. I sighed. That's how I felt in high school when Nicole would make fun of my flat chest.

"Look at what we have here, girls. She has a training bra on. I mean why wear one when there isn't anything there to begin with?" Nicole said in the girl's locker room while we changed into our gym clothes.

The rest of the girls snickered uncontrollably as I quickly tried to hide my flat chest, shielding my face with my hair to cover my burning cheeks.

Suddenly, a roll of tissue paper hit me on the back of my head. When I didn't move, another roll came flying in front of me and hit me on the face. The other girls laughed so loudly as more rolls of tissue paper were thrown at me.

"If I were you, I'd stuff some tissue in my bra. Luckily, I'm not you. I don't need to stuff my bra with anything!" Nicole, then, took off her blouse and wriggled her large breasts in my face to my disdain.

For the rest of my sophomore year in high school, I would always find rolls of tissue paper waiting for me on the bench in front of my gym locker. I convinced myself the prank was harmless, a joke among girls, and that at least, unlike that one time, the rolls weren't thrown at me. Fortunately, I survived gym class without any other inconvenience.

"You know, Chip, Nicole did a wonderful job for my house. Maybe she can do wonders for your pub," I said, helping Nicole redeem herself. Cristos eyed me warily. I raised an eyebrow at him, daring him to challenge me. He knew we needed to get on her good side so she'd talk.

Cristos rolled his eyes, finally agreeing to a ceasefire. "Oh yeah? I want to see your house then. If I like what I see, I'll hire her."

"Really?!" Nicole squealed. "Oh my gosh! I have so many ideas for this place!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, honey" Cristos said, going behind the bar. "I need to see Virtue's house first before I make my decision. And I don't want anything fancy. I want to keep the hardwood floors, but I do want to update the front bar, the bar top, back bar and under bar and include light installations and maybe oak panels on the walls. Once that's done, I'll need furniture that matches the interior."

"I can get the construction done for you," a familiar voice said behind me. I turned and found Noah. "I can show you my portfolio tomorrow and take measurements. We can change this bar top to a nice dark granite or quartz depending on your budget or you can go for a complete wood finish."

"I have everything in my store," Sebastian said. "Why don't all of you come by tomorrow morning?"

"Dom, we live in the same house. Can't you just show me pictures so I don't have to wake up so early? You know I get home later than the rest of you."

"Yes I do know, but your establishment doesn't need to open early in the morning like the rest of us, Chip," Sebastian said, yawning. "And no, I don't have a catalog at home. Since you and Virtue are hiring the same contractor, it'll be more efficient for Noah, if all three of you came at the same time and did your shopping. Virtue wants her store to open in two weeks, but if you have construction done at the same time, it'll bump Virtue's opening to a later date. What I suggest, Chip, is do your shopping tomorrow, have Noah start construction on your new bar with the necessary materials, so when he's free, he can install everything without having to eat up Virtue's time frame. As for the walls, Stanley, Bo and I can help with that."

"Hold up. I'm too busy to install wall panels," Xavier argued. "The grocery store is open everyday which doesn't give me a holiday. P-plus, I just promised Virtue, I'd help her set up her store. Right, Virtue?" My eyes darted instantly to his as he wiggled me into their argument and I saw his puppy dog eyes begging at me.

"Yes, he did actually," I confirmed, winking at Xavier. "Since I'm borrowing Bo for my store, I can offer you my services instead."

"Ah, no, Virtue. We'll be fine without you," Sebastian remarked, knowing I was bad with construction. I was the one who botched up the painting job at our home in Calabasas. I could draw my own designs, but I couldn't paint a wall... go figure.

"Wow, you sound like Virtue here is bad with construction," Lisa muttered, noticing the tone of Sebastian's voice. She was a bit drunk, having started since happy hour.

"Look at her hands, Lisa," Sebastian said, placing my hand in his. I felt that familiar tingling sensation whenever we touched. "These are hands that have never held a tool before. Not even a trowel for gardening." He caressed the back of my hand gently, then turned it to show my palm. He ran his index finger along the length of palm, tickling my skin. I instantly felt that familiar warm longing erupt between my legs.

Sebastian's lips curved into a knowing smile. He placed my hand back onto the bar top, his touch lingering on my skin. I sighed dreamily. Oh, how I missed them...

"Don't listen to him, Virtue," Cristos exclaimed. "It's my bar. You can come and destroy anything you want! I'll just have to bill you." Everyone laughed. Now this was fun. But I could tell the others were tired and needed to get some sleep.

"Well, I have to go home. I have an early day tomorrow. What about you, Bo? You coming or will you be staying longer?"

"I'm coming with you. I need to be at the grocery store early for the deliveries," Xavier answered.

"How about you, Nicole? Do you need me to drive you home?" Sebastian offered. He was always the gentleman.

"I'm fine, Dom. Dan promised to drive me home," Nicole replied.

"Well then, I'll see you all tomorrow," Sebastian said and noticed Noah had a glass of scotch in his hands. "Noah, aren't you driving?"

"Virtue and I will be walking home," he answered.

"Oh no, you aren't. My bestfriend isn't going to walk. Don't worry, I'll drive them home, Dom," Cristos said.

"Alright, then. Good night and drive safely. Nicole... Lisa..." Sebastian patted both of them on the back.

I waved good-bye at Xavier. I caught the longing in his eyes as he glanced back at me before leaving the pub and I felt my heart constrict in my chest. I didn't expect pretending not to know them would be difficult. Anyway, when construction starts for my boutique, I'll be able to spend more time with him.

Noah sat at the now vacant seat beside me while Nicole returned to Liam's group.

"Finally, she's gone," Lisa said and sat straight in her chair.

"I thought you were already drunk," I murmured while I watched her order a new round from Cristos.

"Me? Drunk? Not even close," Lisa said. "But since Chip here has offered to drive the two of you home, you can join me. Chip, bourbon for me, beer for Noah and get your bestfriend a new bottle of wine. On me."

______________________

*Nicole*

I took a seat beside Dan and watched as Lisa, Virtue and Noah toasted to their new friendship. I heaved a sigh. Abigail used to be by my side all the time in high school, but things suddenly changed after the spring formal during our junior year. She began avoiding us, focusing instead on school and the SAT's.

I wasn't used to being alone, so during our senior year, I brought in Lisa to be part of our inner circle. Anyway, I owed her for helping me lure Joy Taylor into the boy's gym room. Joy Taylor wouldn't have come so willingly, if it weren't for Lisa. I knew she and her were friends even though Lisa would bad mouth her to me whenever we spoke.

We never mentioned Joy Taylor's name all throughout our senior year, hoping the past wouldn't catch up to our present. When we graduated high school, Lisa was accepted to Northwestern University and since her family had money, she was fortunate to leave the state.

Liam, Cris and I went to neighboring Bismarck to finish school while Dan went to Univeristy of North Dakota and Jack stayed in New Salem to attend community college.

During the Christmas of our sophomore year in college, Lisa came home for the holidays and we were all shocked to see she had blossomed into a beautiful woman. Cris, who Lisa had a high school crush on, immediately began dating her. After we graduated, Cris proposed to Lisa, asking her to be by his side as he started his political career.

Lisa went into real estate while I opened my interior design business. I had thought everything was fine between us, until one night during Liam and Cris' victory party, Lisa became so drunk, she bitched about getting her involved in the Joy Taylor scandal.

"Joy was my friend, Nicole," she said, while we were both outside of the venue, trying to get some air. "She didn't deserve that. Actually, no woman deserves to be treated that way. You should have told me what they had planned. I could have probably prevented them from hurting her that way."

I rushed towards her and slapped her in the face. "I would like to remind you we are at your husband's victory party. Or have you forgotten Cris was one of the boys implicated in Joy Taylor's assault?" I grabbed her shoulders and made her look me straight in the eyes. "Lisa, remember what I told you... keep your mouth shut and your head down or someone will come knocking on your parents' doorstep. You won't like what happens next. Now, get a grip. If you love Cris and your parents, you'll make the sacrifice."

"Nicole," Liam's voice suddenly interrupted my thoughts, "I need to talk to you. There's something I need you to do for me."